New Smoke Ninja liquid won’t leave greasy residue, stops haze build-up during photo shoots and less likely to trigger smoke alarms

Product image for PMI Gear Vanishing Formula — The Vanishing Formula is compatible with the Smoke Ninja Pro (Image credit: PMI Gear)

When I reviewed the PMI Smoke Ninja back in 2024, one of my criticisms was that the handheld smoke machine’s Dry Ice setting would leave behind a greasy residue on the surfaces it had been applied to. I’m therefore pleased to hear that PMI has been developing a solution to that problem.

Its newly launched Vanishing Formula for its Smoke Ninja Pro smoke machine is said to leave behind no residue. This is particularly good news for toy photographers. The last thing you want to do when photographing a painstakingly hand-painted miniature or diorama is coat it in a thin layer of sticky residue.

Sample images of PMI Gear's Vanishing Formula in action — Smoke machines are great tools for toy, miniatures and portrait photographers (Image credit: PMI Gear)

And that’s not the only challenge the Hong Kong-based outfit has claimed to have conquered. A problem when working with smoke machines in smaller indoor spaces is that a thin haze of smoke gradually builds up during extended use. This plays havoc with both visibility and image quality. The Vanishing Formula is said to mitigate this problem, while also reducing the risk that it will trigger a smoke detector.

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Mike studied photography at college, honing his Adobe Photoshop skills and learning to work in the studio and darkroom. After a few years writing for various publications, he headed to the ‘Big Smoke’ to work on Wex Photo Video’s award-winning content team, before transitioning back to print as Technique Editor (later Deputy Editor) on N-Photo: The Nikon Magazine.

With bylines in Digital Camera, PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine, Practical Photography, Digital Photographer, iMore, and TechRadar, he’s a fountain of photography and consumer tech knowledge, making him a top tutor for techniques on cameras, lenses, tripods, filters, and more. His expertise extends to everything from portraits and landscapes to abstracts and architecture to wildlife and, yes, fast things going around race tracks...